Lot  398. A large pair of famille-rose vases, Qing dynasty, 19th century. Height 25 1/4 in., 64.3 cm. Estimate 12,000 — 18,000 USD. Lot sold 15,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's

each of almost cylindrical form tapering towards the foot and rising to a high angled shoulder, surmounted by a trumpet neck with everted, lipped rim, enameled in a subtle famille-rose palette with a lively depiction of artists, poets and sages engaged in scholarly pursuits amidst foliage, rockwork and pavilions below a band of confronting dragons on a stippled ground with a pair of applied lion-mask handles, the neck with further scenes below a ruyi band (2).